


Adventures of Mooria

by Werewolf1011



Series: The Land of Mooria [1]
Category: No Fandom, The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: AU, Agorog the Orc Warrior, Alternate Universe, Fantasy, Gay, Gay Sex, Gay male characters, Icabar the Human Mage, Leilatha the Elf Rogue, Lesbian, Lesbian Female Characters, Lesbian Sex, Lord Of The Rings AU, Love, Love Story, M/M, Medieval, OC, Original Character - Freeform, Original Characters - Freeform, Party, RPG, Sage the Faerie Cleric, Team, The Hobbit AU, VideoGame, first fanfic, like rpg fantasy, not really a fanfic because it's all ocs, slow buildup
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-13 17:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5710894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werewolf1011/pseuds/Werewolf1011
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow the four adventurers, Icabar, Agorog, Leilatha and Sage as they travel around the LoTR-esque world, Mooria (More-ee-a) taking jobs and collecting bounties.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Giant Toad In Scuttleburg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I hope there are cockroaches so I can practice some more transformation magic on them!" Sage whispered to Icabar excitedly.
> 
> Overhearing this, Leilatha quickly encouraged "Why don't you try to tame them instead? We don't need a situation like what happened at the Inn in Hornshoe." She recalled, grimacing.
> 
> "But it was such a cute Barguest!" Sage huffed.
> 
> "Tell that to the impaled remains of the Innkeeper and his family" Leilatha said pointedly.

"And then I said, 'Well if I look like a Snarrlog's face, then what does that make you? It's ass?!'" Icabar flinched as the tavern exploded in a roar of laughter. Agorog had gotten drunk again, and was telling one of his stories as payment for a nights stay at the inn upstairs. They really needed some money, and soon.

Agorog went deeper still into his story, standing on a wooden table in the center of the room. There was a dense crowd around him that consisted of everyone in the tavern, except for the bartender, and the rest of Agorog's party. This party was made up of himself, Leilatha the elf, Icabar the human, and Sage the faerie.

The three latter were all tucked into a corner of the room that was opposite of the stairs that led up to the sleeping quarters for the innkeeper and customers. The party had arrived at the tavern a short while ago after having travelled all day by horseback. They were all very tired, and were now only running on fumes.

"Why don't we go up to our room now? I'm dreadfully tired, and can't stand this incessant noise." said Leilatha warily.

"Yeah! I hope there are cockroaches so I can practice some more transformation magic on them!" Sage whispered to Icabar excitedly.

Overhearing this, Leilatha quickly encouraged "Why don't you try to tame them instead? We don't need a situation like what happened at the Inn in Hornshoe." She recalled, grimacing.

"But it was such a cute Barguest!" Sage huffed.

"Tell that to the impaled remains of the Innkeeper and his family" Leilatha said pointedly. "Let's go up to our room now. There are only two beds, so Sage and I will have to share." She paused when there was a loud bang as Agorog gracelessly fell from the table, which was closely ensued by a burst of laughter from the tavern's customers. "Icabar, that means you'll have to share with Agorog."

At this, the young mage who had only been half-listening as he read 'Necromancy and It's Origins', snapped his head up. "Aww, not again!" he whined, "Agorog sleep-cuddles me! It's really uncomfortable…" he trailed off as he saw the Elf was staring with a slightly irritated look at him.

  
"Well, unless you would like to sleep on the floor, you'll have to deal with _him_." at this she gestured over her shoulder to the Orc. He was currently surrounded by a ring of people, and was egging them on to start a fist fight with him.

"I suppose I'll live." Icabar said in defeat. He closed his book and started to make his way through the group of people. Leilatha, and then Sage, followed.

"Sage would you be so kind as to make sure our beloved warrior makes it to bed in a timely manner?" Leilatha asked, her voice dripping with false innocence.

"Can do, Leila!" Sage used the endearing nickname she had come up with on her first day she had joined this group of adventurers. She easily made her way through the crowd as the drunk men decided to make way for the appealingly young, pretty girl.

"Hey there, ya big dummy!" Sage greeted Agorog.

"Hello!" Agorog said in a bad sea-pirate accent. "What ya be needin?"

"We need to go upstairs now! We need to kill that giant toad that's rampaging about Scuttleburg Forest tomorrow, remember?" She said as she started to tug on his sleeve, heading in the direction of the stairs that would lead to their room.

"But the party's jus' gettin underway!" Agorog slurred.

Sage rolled her eyes, and put the palm of her hand on his forehead. "Murme" she whispered. It was her newest little trick. Icabar had taught her how to put people to sleep instantly with magic. Agorog's eyes rolled up into his head as he slumped over onto Sage. Sage let out a small laugh as the men surged forward, trying to catch the 200 pound, muscled Orc from crushing the dainty girl.

The men stopped in their tracks, and some took a step back, as Sage pushed Agorog off of herself, and then proceeded to quite easily drag him by the collar of his shirt across the tavern, up the stairs, and into their room. She then called down "Don't worry boys! He'll feel good enough to play some more tomorrow morning!" and then proceeded to slam the door shut.

'Gods,' Sage thought to herself, 'throw demons and flaming battle axes at this guy and he won't even flinch. But if you even mention magic, he's a little bunny made of dandelion fluff.' She giggled to herself as she got ready for bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sure enough the next morning, Icabar awoke to being firmly pressed against Agorog's broad chest. He thought about trying to escape, but the low rumble in the orc's chest, the soft snoring, the puffs of hot breath on the top of his head, were all somehow soothing.

He let himself enjoy the feeling for a moment, but he then laughed at himself. What was he thinking? He didn't have any feelings for the Orc, and even if he did, they would definitely not be reciprocated. They were just friends.

He quietly, slipped from the orc's arms.

As he was tiptoeing his way across the small room to the door, he stepped on an especially squeaky floorboard. He winced as he slowly looked back at his slumbering comrades. Good, he hadn't woken any of them.

Once he was safely out of the room, he headed downstairs to the tavern and went out the door, to go to the nearby woods. Time to practice some basic necromancy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he was heading back to the tavern, Icabar reflected on that morning's progress.

He had found many small indigenous beetles that he crushed, and then practiced necromancy on. He had not been very successful, only getting a leg or antennae to twitch once or twice before becoming still.

He didn't like to kill them, but he figured that it was better if they were beetles and not people, or something of that sort.

As he walked through the tavern door, he was greeted by the wafting aroma of scrambled eggs and sausage that was being served to the tavern's patrons. He made his way over to Leilatha and Sage, who he had noticed were sitting in the corner when he walked in.

"Where have you been?" Leilatha asked curiously, glancing up at him from the 'Bounties and Jobs' section of the local newspaper.

"I was… just out." Icabar replied hesitantly

"I was just practicing some new magic that I read about." he elaborated, seeing the Elf staring at him skeptically.

"Oh!" Sage exclaimed, suddenly poking her head in front of Leilatha's face, "Whatcha learning?"

"Necromancy." Icabar stated, a sinister smile spreading across his face. He then pulled one of the dead beetles from his pocket and held it directly in front of her face.

" _Ewww_!" Sage stuck out her tongue in disgust, lunging backwards quickly with the help of her small faerie wings.

"You know I only like healthy, living… things!" Sage said, hugging the wall she had slammed into, watching Icabar's every movement.

"Really? I'm sorry, I had no idea!" Icabar gasped, feigning surprise as he pocketed the dead beetle. "By the way, where is Agorog?" He continued, trying not to think about what he woke up to that morning.

As Icabar said this, Agorog came barreling down the stairs, nearly crushing the couple that was about to walk up it.

"For the love of gods, tell me I didn't miss it!" He exclaimed as he wildly whipped his head back and forth, looking for something.

Getting over her initial shock, Leilatha calmly asked, "And what may it be that you're missing, exactly?"

"Breakfast, of course!" Agorog cried, "I'm fucking starving!"

At this, the innkeeper brought out an enormous plate piled with food and set it at the party's table. "This is for that wonderful story last night!" he explained, "my customers stayed much later than usual, and almost bought me out of beer! This is a small thanks from me."

Agorog, who was already holding a big turkey leg and one hand, and a sausage in the other, grunted a 'No problem' at the innkeeper, as he continued to stuff his face with the new food.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Agorog had eaten his share, Leilatha thanked the innkeeper for his hospitality and the party went on their way.

As they were getting their horses from the small stable that built off of the side of the inn, Sage remembered something.

"Hey, we need a job right? Why don't we check out that giant toad down at Scuttleburg?" she suggested as she clambered onto her small pony, next to Agorog's hulking stallion.

"That's a wonderful idea, Sage" Leilatha said, "Icabar could even show us some of his necromancy skills." she suggested teasingly as Sage poked her tongue at her.

"I don't think so. Maybe Agorog could eat it." he replied, chuckling when Agorog made a sound of indigenes deep in his throat.

"Bah! You wait and see, small Mage!," Agorog exclaimed, smiling sinisterly, "by the time you cast your first spell, I'll have already slain the beast!" he said, and then burst out laughing as the other three rolled their eyes. He then proceeded to gallop out of the small stable and down the road in the direction of Scuttleburg Forest.

"Come on you two." Leilatha said, following in Agorog's wake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's too quiet." Leilatha warned as the party entered the large, seemingly empty, village.

The horses came to a halt in front of what appeared to be an abandoned house.

The party dismounted and Leilatha made her way to the door and knocked. She knocked again. And again.

She glanced around, and then took out her lock picks from where she hides them in her boot.

She crouched down and was about to set to work when a click could be heard from the door. It opened only partially, revealing a distressed looking woman with a child clutching to her long skirt.

Leilatha quickly stood up and deposited the picks back into her boot in one fluid motion. "Hello. We have come here for the bounty in the paper." she said, trying to inject as much innocence as possible into her voice.

The woman's eyes widened as she said in a hushed voice "Please! Come in, come in!"

Leilatha proceeded to go inside. The woman then stared at the others expectantly, who had been watching from where they had dismounted their horses.

As Agorog followed suit, Sage whispered to Icabar, "What about the horses? We can't just leave the poor babies out here to get gobbled up by the big toad."

Icabar thought for a moment, and then had an idea. He turned to the horses, and one by one, rested the palm of his hand on each of them and murmured the spell "Sarna Vene". As he did this, each horse shrunk into small a stone statue of a horse, that Icabar then pocketed.

"Whoa, how'd you do that?" Sage asked in slight awe.  
  
"Oh," Icabar said timidly, "I just used a shrinking spell. 'Sarna Vene', when directly translated, means 'vessel of stone'."

"That's amazing! You need to teach me how to do that soon." She exclaimed.

"No problem." Icabar replied more than happy to teach the faerie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they were all finally inside, the woman, who had identified herself as Juliana Camden, told them about the towns troubles of late, "The only reason this is happening is because the mayor refused a witch from shelter and food in our town during a terrible storm!" She explained to Leilatha, visibly stressed and exhausted.

"Hey I remember that storm! It was really bad. Oh! And remember how scared you were Icabar?" Sage whispered to him with a giggle. Icabar blushed, jokingly pushing her away while trying to hide the smile on his face. Agorog overheard this from where he was sitting on his chair backwards, and smiled to himself. 'That could come of use later.' he thought, already trying to think of a way he could embarrass the young Mage even more.

"Any of us would've been happy to help. Most of us are very accepting of magic users." Juliana continued to explain.

"But now that the mayor refused, we can't do anything to mend the mistake. She's released that giant monster into the forest nearby, and it commonly comes to the village." She continued nervously, glancing out the only window, as if even mentioning it was enough to summon it's might.

"Is that why it's so quite and depressing around here?" Sage wondered out loud.

"Yes, actually." Juliana replied turning back around to face her, "Everyone's too afraid to go outside, in fear that they'll be caught without cover during an attack." she sighed. Picking at a string coming out of her skirt.

"If you could kill it, or try to appease the witch, we would be more than happy to pay you the bounty, and plus some, that we stated in the paper!" Juliana pleaded, standing back up, and walking over to Leilatha.

At that moment, there was a thundering boom, and the sound of splintering wood could be heard, accompanied by several screams. Everyone in Juliana's house jumped from the loud noise, Agorog even knocking over the chair he had been sitting on.

"What in the fuck was that?!" Agorog cried, trying to peer out the small, dirty window for the source of the noise.

"It's back." Juliana murmured, standing in place like a stone statue. She only started moving when her young daughter had started to cry, terrified of the loud noise.

She ran over, picked up the girl, and went to a door at the other end of the house. When she opened it, a set of stairs that lead into darkness was all that could be seen.

"Everyone in the town has dug out basements for whenever it comes!" Juliana explained, "Now go!" She pleaded, "And kill the damned beast!" And with that she slammed the basement door shut.

Sage, who had opened the door to the outside only an inch quickly shut it with a bleak expression on her face. "There's something out there. And it's really big." She paused, "And eating a house."

"Well come on then! Let's go kill us a frog!" Agorog cried.

"Technically, it's a toad. Frogs are-" Icabar started, but was abruptly cut off by a sharp glance from Agorog, "Sorry. " he amended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At least they had managed to lure it away from the civilians, and into the woods.

They had tried everything. Magic didn't seem to work against it. It had probably been enchanted by the witch to resist any kind of magical attacks and distortion that wasn't, in general, strong.

Metal blades did nothing against the toad either. Agorog had broken one of his favorite longswords trying to do an overhand strike of the frogs back.

"Fucking shit!" Agorog huffed as he jumped out of the way of the toads attempt at a side swipe with its foot, "this asshole isn't dying!"

"I've tried almost every spell I know!" Icabar informed the others, who were scattered in a small area in the forest, "nothing affects it!"

"All my transformation spells keep bouncing off of him, too." Sage agreed as she stood awkwardly among a small pile of various everyday objects, including a chair and a pocket watch, where there had previously only been rocks and shrubs among the plentiful trees.

"I've got it!" Agorog cried as he prepared to lunge at the toad.

"Agorog wait! Don't do anything stup-" Leilatha cried, but was cut short as Agorog leapt at the toads face and slashed at its left eye with his sword.

The toad was too fast for him though, and shifted slightly to the side, allowing the blade to glance off of its thick hide, right below its eye.

It then swatted at Agorog, making solid contact, and sent Agorog spinning through the air to land in the bottom branches of an evergreen.

Sage was quick to respond, flying up to him, and gently bringing him down to the ground. Although she was careful, Agorog still groaned in pain from the jostling.

"Well, at least now I'll be useful." Sage laughed nervously, placing her palm on his forehead, which was crinkled from the grimace the Orc had on his face.

"Congratu-fucking-lations." the orc managed to sputter out before gasping at the spike of pain in his chest.

"Sorry," Sage apologized, wincing, "I need to heal your ribs." she explained. "This one will take a bit of energy." she said, more talking to herself than to the Orc.

She raised her head, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She then, loudly and clearly, recited the short incantation for a particularly powerful healing spell she knew; "Fallaner en' Quenat".

The healing magic started to pulse from the faerie's fingertips into the Orc's chest, mending both the internal and external damage that had been done.

Agorog slowly sat up, feeling around his chest and abdomen lightly, checking for any more injuries. "Thanks much, Sage. Now I'm good enough to get back in the fight." He said smiling, but with pain still lingering on his face.

"No way!" She told Agorog. Yelling now, at Icabar, "Hey Icabar, get over here! This dummy thinks he's ready to get back into the fight!"

"What?" He said, jogging over from where he had been helping Leilatha. "No way. You were just thrown thirty feet into a tree."

"What of it?" Agorog asked with an indignant look on his face.

"Dumbass" Icabar muttered as he rolled his eyes and knelt down, taking Sages place next to Agorog.

"Hey, does Leilatha need any help?" Sage asked Icabar glancing nervously over her shoulder at the toad. Leilatha wasn't anywhere in sight.

"She'll be fine, although she may need you to restore her stamina every so often. I cast a spell of speed on her, so she'll have an easy enough time keeping the toad distracted while we think of a new strategy."

"Ok!" Sage responded happily, glad to be of more help. She quickly fluttered away, to keep watch over Leilatha.

"You really want to get back out there, huh?" Icabar asked, turning back to Agorog. "Well, I have a plan that needs you. It'll work." He explained. "Probably" he added as an afterthought.

"Great! Let's hear it!" Agorog replied eagerly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Icabar was done explaining his plan, he waited expectantly for Agorog's thoughts.

"That… just might work." he sounded out, mulling it over in his head, " Yeah! Let's give it a go!"

"Good. Now I need to cast some spell of protection on you, preferably one that gives you string protection against physical injury."

"Well then, get on with it." Agorog waited expectantly.

"Umm… I need you to take off your shirt." Icabar said, blushing. "I need to cast it at the core of your body. The closer to the core, the more effective it is." Icabar quickly explained.

"Oh, I guess… that makes sense." Agorog replied, also blushing, although much less so than Icabar.

He started to unbutton his thick, worn, and now dirty, over-shirt. Once he had unbuttoned the last one, he then pulled up his undershirt to the bottom of his sternum. He deliberately looked away from Icabar at this point, not wanting to make eye contact while this was being done.

Icabar quietly thanked him and pushed him gently down, so he was lying back on the ground. He then placed his hands on the Orc's solid torso; one on his naval, and the other reaching up past the bunched up shirt, onto the Orc's sternum.

Icabar couldn't help but stare at the pale, scarred complexion that was the Orc's chest. He had never really gotten a good look at the Orc like this before, but he now realized that he didn't know where most of the scars he saw came from.

He was pulled out of his deep thought by a clear of the throat from the Orc. "You can look at my chest later. I don't think Leilatha can hold out much longer."

Promising himself that He would take the Orc up on his offer, Icabar quickly muttered the protection spell, 'Angren Helma', and removed his hands, looking away. He was having trouble ignoring the warm feeling that was pooling in his pelvis.

Icabar had known that he liked men for a while, but had never acted upon his feelings. He instead chose to not get in any relationships at all. But could he really be having feelings for Agorog now? After all this time of knowing him and battling by his side? He tried not to dwell on it too much longer as he glanced back at the Orc, who was now buttoning up his shirt, and looking slightly flustered.

He and Agorog stood up, not looking at each other. Both were still somewhat wondering why and what they were feeling. Why were they feeling the way they were, both during and after the semi-intimate touching?

These trains of thought didn't last long as they heard Leilatha scream out in terror, "Sage, watch out!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Icabar and Agorog ran over to where they found Leilatha kneeling over Sage.

"She was trying to help, but she got too close!" Leilatha bemoaned, "That vile creature just swatted her out of the air like a bug" she said, worry written through every part of her body.

"Move over." Icabar said quickly, "I can stop any injuries from getting worse and spreading. What I won't be able to do is heal her. I only know minor healing spells." He explained, glancing up over Leilatha's shoulder.

"Leilatha, you might want to distract that thing while we do this"  
He said, gesturing to the toad, who was only twenty feet away, and gaining.

"Do  _not_ let her die" Leilatha instructed sternly, as she stood up.

She then closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and disappeared right before Icabar's and Agorog's eyes.

"Well, at least the speed charm hasn't worn off yet." Icabar said, trying to lighten the situation.

Icabar proceeded to place his hands on Sage, similar to how he had with Agorog. Agorog noticed this and felt a faint hint of… jealousy? It couldn't be. He shook his head, and watched as Icabar murmured "Hilkin" and quickly removed his hands.

"Leilatha!" Icabar shouted, trying to get the impossibly fast Elf's attention.

She suddenly appeared next to Agorog, making him jump back in surprise, "Gods, woman! How about a little warning next time!" He exclaimed.

Leilatha shot him an annoyed glance and asked, "What do you need Icabar?"

"Get Sage, back to Scuttleburg. They should have a healer of some kind there. They should be able to help at least somewhat." He said, with a note of urgency in his voice.

"What about you two? I can't just leave you here with that thing." She said, gesturing to the toad who was now looking around, wondering what had happened to the incredibly fast, small annoyance that had kept trying to cut him.

"We have a plan." Agorog replied. Leilatha looked at him skeptically. "Icabar?" She asked.

"We have a plan." He agreed.

Leilatha looked between the two of them with a torn expression on her face. "Do you promise-"

"I promise we'll survive." Icabar affirmed, nodding.

Leilatha picked us Sage's limp body, looked between the two one more time, worry written on her face, and took off running.

Icabar and Agorog both stood up. "So, you're confident in the plan?" Agorog asked curiously.

"No." Icabar simply stated.

"Leilatha's going to have your ass if we die, you know." He said, turning around and stretching.

He was greeted by the toad stooping down at eye level, and staring at him. He was then promptly eaten, sword and all.

"Well, looks like the plan's first step has been completed." Icabar muttered to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Finally done with chapter 1!


	2. You Ruined A Perfectly Good Mage. Look, He's Got Anxiety.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey, Agorog? I was thinking… I want to take you up on your promise from earlier." Icabar said looking at his feet, as Agorog was about on put on a shirt he had found.
> 
> Take me up on my…" Agorog trailed off, thinking, and then realizing, what Icabar was referring to. His eyes widened in surprise, and Icabar's got a bit red from the open stare.
> 
> Well, I can see you two want some alone time, so I will be leaving." She then laughed, as Icabar whipped up his head, with an almost guilty expression on his face.
> 
> Leilatha silently left, closing the door, and smiled. She didn't know what the said promise entailed, but it was about time those two stopped beating around the bush.

Icabar took off running in the other direction. He needed to get his bearings.

He had been relying on the benefit of actually deciding when the plan took effect, but this would have to do.

The toad was now chasing him through the woods. All he had to do was keep running while Agorog went to work.

He had been running for a couple minutes, and was somewhat winded now.

While glancing over his shoulder, noting that the toad was a considerable distance away, he tripped over a big tree root that was sticking out of the ground.

Grabbing his head, Icabar slowly sat up, trying not to groan. He had hit his head on a rock hidden breath the leafy floor.

The toad was now approaching him and he started to panic. What was taking Agorog so long?

He whipped his head back and forth looking for anything he could use as a defense. He started to crawl away from the toad as he kept searching.

His hand scraped against the rock. "This'll have to do." He muttered.

He scrambled to his feet, turning around and facing the toad

He took aim lifting the rock back, over his shoulder, and threw the sizable rock as hard as he could.

It sailed through the air, and hit the toad right on the nose. It bounced off harmlessly.

'Well shit.' Icabar thought grimly. 'Why the hell did I think that was going to work?'

But something had happened. The toad now stood still, staring at him.

The toad then suddenly made a horrible sound, and then started to flail wildly. Icabar quickly got out of the way, wondering if this was because of Agorog.

As if in answer, Icabar saw a small wave of blood escape the toads mouth, closely followed by a bile-soaked Orc, who was spluttering and cursing.

"Some fucking plan that was." Agorog yelled at Icabar, who was choking on the smell of puke and blood.

"I damn near got digested!" Agorog continued angrily, wiping his body on everything he could.

"So it worked then?" Icabar asked with relief.

"Yeah it worked." Agorog replied, annoyed. "I just started cutting up everything I could find in there."

"Dammit, I need a bath." Agorog continued in anguish. "Can we  _please_ get back to the inn now?" Agorog begged, moving closer to grab Icabar.

Icabar backed away quickly, dry heaving a little. "Don't you dare touch me!" He said, laughing.

"Then get your sorry ass moving!" Agorog said impatiently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Icabar and Agorog had made it back to the inn without trouble, but the innkeeper demanded that Agorog clean himself up immediately. Agorog was happy to oblige.

Before he started getting cleaned up, Agorog ordered 3 tankards of beer and took them up to the party's room to get drunk in peace.

Icabar immediately found Leilatha when they arrived, and asked about Sage's condition.

"She should recover without any problems." Leilatha answered. "I have left her with the local healer. She's in good hands. She'll be fine." She continued, the last sentence more to comfort herself than Icabar.

Relieved and exhausted, Icabar walked into their temporary room. He stripped down to his undershirt, and put on a pair of thin, soft, cotton pajama bottoms.

He walked into the bathroom that was built off of the bedroom, to prepare for bed. He was met by a surprised Agorog who was sitting in the bathtub, and who was scrubbing his chest with a rough sponge.

"Sorry, sorry!" Icabar quickly said, immediately turning around, exiting the bathroom, and closing the door behind him. He leaned against the door, red-faced, as he heard Agorog call "You can come in" while chuckling.

Icabar slowly opened the door and peeked around it. "Are you sure?" He asked trying not to picture what was surely just below the surface of the foggy, opaque, water. This was made easier by the fact that Agorog's bare torso was out of the water, and exposed.

But Icabar still tried not to stare as Agorog replied, "Yes, I'm sure."

"Ok…" Icabar replied hesitantly, creeping slowly into the bathroom, stepping over the empty tankards. "I just needed… needed to… uhh… I needed to brush my teeth." Icabar finally explained, fumbling with his words.

"Brush away." Agorog replied, trying to act nonchalant. Not that he would ever admit this, but he was feeling quite embarrassed, but not just because he had been walked in on. It was because it was Icabar who was the one that had done it.

Icabar nodded, and got to work brushing his teeth. He couldn't help but feel like Agorog was watching him, although every time he glanced at the Orc in the mirror, there happened to be a particularly interesting soap sud the Orc was inspecting.

When Icabar wasn't looking, Agorog would glance at him, wondering why his heart was still hammering. He didn't understand why he felt this way about Icabar and it made him uncomfortable. For some reason though, he liked the feeling, if he was being perfectly honest.

Icabar muttered a quite 'thank you' and left Agorog to his bath. Agorog's heart was still pounding, and a warm feeling was growing in his groin. 'Might as well rub one out.' he thought.

As he was pleasing himself, his mind couldn't stop wandering back to Icabar, no matter how hard he tried.

He kept thinking of what the human would look like if the Orc ever managed to get his hands on him. The small, quiet moans that would escape the humans mouth. The small quivers that would course through his body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Agorog exited the bathroom, wobbling a little from his drunkenness, as Leilatha walked through the door of the small bedroom.

"I'm going to stay at the healers tonight, to watch over Sage." She said, looking from Agorog to Icabar, who was now lying on his and Agorog's bed.

"I hope she's alright." Icabar said worriedly.

"She'll be fine. Nonetheless, you two should come down early tomorrow morning." Leilatha said.

"Fine." Agorog sighed out, searching for a clean linen shirt.

"Hey, Agorog? I was thinking… I want to take you up on your promise from earlier." Icabar said looking at his feet, as Agorog was about on put on a shirt he had found.

"Take me up on my…" Agorog trailed off, thinking, and then realizing, what Icabar was referring to. His eyes widened in surprise, and Icabar's got a bit red from the open stare.

"Well, I can see you two want some alone time, so I will be leaving." She then laughed, as Icabar whipped up his head, with an almost guilty expression on his face.

Leilatha silently left, closing the door, and smiled. She didn't know what the said promise entailed, but it was about time those two stopped beating around the bush.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, are you going to make yourself into a liar?" Icabar asked, huffing, still beat red because Agorog hadn't stopped staring at him.

Icabar got up, and slowly walked over to the Orc. He pulled the shirt from Agorog's hands, and let it fall to the ground.

He stole a glance at the Orc's face, but immediately regretted it. Agorog had that look in his eyes. He knew it well. It was the gleaming look Agorog got when he was watching the Mage squirm.

Agorog waited expectantly, still staring at Icabar.

Icabar grabbed Agorog's hand, and pulled, leading him to their bed.

He pulled Agorog past him, pushing him down onto the bed, and crawling on top of him.

"You look like a fucking tomato." Agorog said, trying to lighten the mood. He was also trying to take his mind off of the friction he felt as the young human practically straddle him.

Icabar couldn't meet the Orc's gaze. 'What in the fuck am I doing?!' He his internal self screamed. 'Just look at him, ok? Just look at him, and try not to get hard.'

"So, now that I have you right where I want you…" Icabar started. 'Smooth. That was obviously the best choice of what to say.' He scolded himself.

"… you have to tell me about your scars." He finished, noting that, at his own expense, Agorog was having trouble stifling a laugh.

"Ok." Agorog replied, finally quieting the laugh, "which ones do you want to know about?"

Icabar lifted his hands from where he had been leaning on the Orc's flat stomach, and placed a finger on a particularly large scar.

"Oh that one?" Agorog asked, trying to ignore the fact that Icabar was still touching it gingerly. "I got that one from a dragon. And a hell of a dragon it was!" He said enthusiastically, launching into the scar's birth story.

Icabar listened intently, genuinely interested in what Agorog had to say.

This continued for a while, Icabar finding a scar he liked, and asking about it. Agorog would always tell the scar's story, each one quite different and interesting.

"What about these ones?" Icabar asked, pointing to a row of four discolored, small dots.

Agorog laughed. "I got that form some asshole, where I used to live." He recounted.

"You mean at the Northern Orc camp?" Icabar asked, wide-eyed. His friends rarely talked about their past, beyond the start of their small group.

"Yeah." Agorog confirmed softly. "Some ass thought I would look better with a fork sticking out of me."

Agorog burst out laughing, jostling the Mage a little. Icabar couldn't help but chuckle himself.

As Agorog laughed, his arms shifted, revealing a purple splash that caught Icabar's eye.

"What about that one?" Icabar asked in a murmur, gently running his fingers along the length of the purple mark. It contrasted greatly, against the Orc's pale skin, making it look like a bleeding wound.

Agorog stopped laughing almost immediately, looking away from Icabar.

Icabar could feel the Orc's pulse quicken, and he became still, afraid he had done something wrong.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Agorog said lowly, covering the mark back up with his arm.

"I'm… sorry." Icabar said in a whisper, starting to get off of Agorog.

He found he couldn't, as the Orc had grabbed his legs, holding him there.

Icabar looked back at Agorog, for some explanation, and was met with eyes that were hiding pain behind them. Icabar was glad he hadn't asked about the 10's of thin sliver-like scars below the purple one.

Icabar thought for a moment, and then decided on a course of action. He lifted himself slightly off of Agorog, and slid down the Orc's body, straightening himself out so that his head landed on the Orc's chest, right below his chin.

Icabar let his eyes slide closed, while he traced one of the many scars lightly with his fingertips.

He started to lose consciousness, and his hand became still. He could feel his breathing evening out, and becoming shallower, and soon fell asleep.

As Agorog was drifting off, he picked up his arms, and looped them around the smaller man, hugging him closely.

Agorog cracked his eyes open, smiling down at the sleeping human who was in his embrace.

He closed his eyes and took a deep, well-deserved sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Does it hurt?" A deep, raspy voice penetrated Icabar's dreams.

"…no." Icabar murmured sleepily, answering the question, not realizing, or caring, that the question was strange. Especially because it was 8 in the morning. He was still in a light sleep.

"See?" The voice asked "I told you disembowelment was painless." The voice continued, with a hint of cruel pleasure in it.

Icabar shot up at the words, immediately going into defense mode. Now _this_ set off red flags.

He was quickly pulled back down onto a solid mass, and was pinned there. His eyes darted around frantically, trying to assess as much as they could about the situation.

Icabar's eyes landed on a grinning Agorog, who had a sly look in his eyes.

"Gotcha." Agorog whispered, basking in the feeling of another successful teasing of the human.

Icabar, who still didn't know what was going on, struggled out of Agorog's grasp, and reflexively punched him in the face.

"The fug?!" Agorog yelled, sitting up now too, holding his bloody face. "You broge my fugging node!"

"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry!" Icabar quickly apologized, coming out of his momentary confusion.

"Although, you did kind of have it coming…" Icabar made a face, as if suddenly in deep thought.

Agorog glared at him, and Icabar shrugged. "Here, let me try to fix it-" Icabar started.

"No way." Agorog said, batting away Icabar's approaching hands, "you've dud enough ad it id."

"Sorry." Icabar apologized, trying to hide a small smile.

"Ged ov me you azz." Agorog grumbled pushing Icabar off of himself, and standing up, looking around for a shirt.

"Here." Said Icabar, handing him a shirt and cloth.

"Well, we mide ad well head down to da healer." Agorog said, adjusting his speech so he could talk more coherently.

"Aww, but I wanna cuddle…" Icabar teased, splaying his body on the bed, hoping the Orc didn't realize how much the words rang true.

"Haha. Come on." Agorog replied, rolling his eyes. He couldn't tell if the Mage was being serious or not, and it worried Agorog that he was hoping the human wasn't joking. He honestly wouldn't have minded just laying there for a bit longer, with the smaller human sleeping on top of him.

Wow. He must still be tired, thinking like THAT. Agorog shook his head and walked out of the room, clogging his bleeding nose as he went.

Icabar got off of the bed, and put on his tunic, following Agorog down the stairs. He would need to figure out a way to make this up to the Orc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Figures it's on the exact opposite side of town." Agorog complained, breaking the silence that had persisted between him and Icabar, as they were walking through the town.

As they were walking, they saw a man yelling to small crowd around him. He was standing outside of a small cathedral with ornate stained glass windows.

As they approached, they could make out his words, "-impure, and evil! They are a sickness that needs to be cured!" The man yelled.

The man continued to rant "Normal people like you and me are living in constant fear of these, these _magic users_!"

The two continued past the crowd. Icabar shifted his gaze to the ground, his heart rate increasing.

Agorog glanced down at the Mage, gushing his reaction.

"Look!" The man exclaimed, noticing Icabar. "He's a wizard! Look at his clothes!" He said to the crowd, who was now ogling at Icabar.

Now addressing Icabar directly, the man shouted "You'll be denied access to the gods' utopia, you know! Disgusting abominations like you are meant to burn in the pits Balar!"

At this point, Agorog had switched sides, and was now walking in between Icabar and the small crowd, shielding him from their insults.

"You're parents must be disgusted by the mere sight of you!" The man continued angrily.

Icabar stopped dead in his tracks. Agorog laid a hand on his shoulder, thinking he would lash out at the man. But when he saw Icabar's face, he had to stop himself from going over and beating the man to a bloody pulp.

Icabar's face was a little red, and his cheeks were slightly wet from a few tears that had fallen down his face.

He glanced up at Agorog from the ground, and quickly looked away, seeing the Orc staring at him.

"Let's go." Icabar whispered, starting again, to walk away from the crowd. After a moments hesitation, Agorog followed.

Agorog clenched and I clenched his fist over and over again. That man need to learn some manners.

Once they had gotten out of earshot of the crowd, Agorog asked "Do you… need to talk abo-"

"No." Icabar quickly said, cutting him off.

'Hmm' Agorog thought, touching his torso, where the purple blotch was, 'that sounds familiar.'

Agorog glanced back at the Mage, who was staring at the ground. 'What happened to you?' He wondered to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had reached the healer's small hut now.

They walked in through the door, which had been left wide open, letting in a soft summer breeze.

The two adventurers were greeted by the smell of incense and candles.

They looked around, and saw jars of leaves, roots, and flowers everywhere. There was also a large number of scrolls in the corner.

There was a large silky cloth separating the front part of the hut from the back.

"Oh boy, let me guess." Agorog laughed. "This old lady thinks you can cure a cold with some plants, doesn't she?"

"Never underestimate the healing powers of nature." A woman's voice wafted from the back of the hut.

Not knowing what else to do, they walked past the curtain, to the back of the hut, where the voice had originated from.

What they saw surprised them. Sage was sitting up, and smiling at them. She was trying to hide a wince as a woman, who had her back to the Orc and human, was peeling off a sticky bandage from her leg.

Leilatha was there too, cleaning under her fingernails with one of her many knives. She glanced up as Icabar and Agorog walked in. She then looked at the unknown woman, and then back at them, shooting them a warning with her eyes.

The woman, finally getting up, turned around, and greeted Icabar and Agorog. "Nature has many secrets. Never underestimate it."

Agorog and Icabar stared at her. "Wait, you're bl-" Agorog was cut of by a jab from Icabar's elbow.

"Yes, I'm blind." The woman laughed. "It's natural to be surprised."

The woman had two long, jagged scars running down her face, one over each eye. Her eyes were discolored, and it was difficult to tell where the iris ended and the pupil began.

"Er, sorry." Agorog said, embarrassed.

"It's quiet alright. Panka helps me see, with his divine power." She said smiling.

Icabar took a small step back at the gods name, expecting more insults. Agorog instinctively put himself slightly in between Icabar and the woman. Leilatha noticed this, but said nothing.

"No need to worry!" The woman assured hastily, noticing the sudden tension. "I rely on herbs, yes, but I'm an avid magic user."

"So you're not like those assess by the church?" Agorog asked, relaxing a little.

"Heavens, no!" She laughed. "The only reason I'm still in business, is because I'm the only person in this town with experience in medicine. Otherwise, I'd have surely been run out of town by now." As she was saying this, Icabar visibly relaxed.

"But you still believe in the gods? How come you use magic then?" Icabar asked, confused.

"Well, the priests in this town choose to worship a god that is particularly hateful. Their gods purpose is to destroy the 'impure', and the priests feel that this means magic users." She explained, shrugging.

"Well then, what's your god like?" Icabar asked, stepping back to where he had been standing, before the small fright.

"My god, Panka, is a loving god, accepting of all who have a good heart." She explained. "Whether you use magic or not has no importance in his eyes."

"I really like him! He looks like a fluffy goat!" Sage bursted into the conversation, startling both Icabar and Agorog. "Look! I drew a picture of him!"

She pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper with a crude drawing of a goat face smiling, inside a big heart. The words 'I love you!' Were scrawled across the bottom in pink.

"Ha! That horri-" Agorog was cut off by another jab from Icabar.

"It's wonderful." Leilatha said, taking the paper, and smoothing it out on the floor.

Sage shot Agorog a glare, and then smiled sheepishly at Leilatha.

"Now let's take a look at that nose of yours." The woman said, approaching Agorog.

"How did you know I had broken nose?" Agorog asked

"It's all in the eyes. When I was foud after the attack that gave me _these_ ," she motioned to the two scars on her face, "I was taken to a particularly powerful healer. He used one of Panka's sacred herbs to heal me, and I've had the ability to find and treat injury and sickness ever since." She smiled, feeling around Agorog's face, pressing here and there. Her presses were accompanied by small 'ow's from the Orc.

"Shit!" Agorog cried, as the healer gently pressed down on an, apparently, very sensitive part of the Orc's nose.

"Found it." The healer said triumphantly. "On the count of three, I'm going to move the cartilage back in place, ok?"

The Orc grumbled out an agreement.

"Good." She said, setting her hands gently on either side of the Orc's face. This allowed her to place her thumbs gently on the bridge of the Orc's nose.

"Ok ready?" The woman paused.

"Three!" She burst out suddenly pushing down the bridge of Agorog's nose, pushing the cartilage back into place.

The Orc yelped out in pain, pushing himself away from the woman's hands and cursing under his breath.

"It's worse if you know it's coming." She apologized for giving no warning.

The woman busied herself, gathering herbs and roots in a small bowl, that had a jelly-like substance in it.

"Don't touch it." She warned, still turned away, as the Orc was about to feel his nose.

"Leilatha, would you be so kind as to fetch me some water?" The woman asked, holding out a small empty flask.

"Not at all." Leilatha responded, getting up to get the water, grabbing the flask.

Sage walked over to the Orc and patted him on the top of his head. "Did it hurt a lot? Are you ok?" She asked, a worried expression of her face.

"No worries, I'm fine." Agorog laughed through the pain.

Sage went back to her cot, getting a little lightheaded, still not completely recovered from the toad.

Leilatha came back with the water, and handed the small bottle that contained it to the healer.

The healer smiled a thanks as she poured the water into the small bowl she was holding.

She made her way over to a cluttered desk, and felt around blindly for something.

She finally picked up an oblong, marbled, stone. She began to expertly crush the ingredients in the bowl, and was murmuring indecipherable words. She was reciting some magic spell or incantation that would infuse the salve with magic.

The color of the gooey substance morphed from a dirty brown into a light minty green.

When she was done, she asked "Could one of you please grab me some bandages? They should be on the table over there." She pointed in the general direction of atable who's clutter rivaled the desk.

Icabar retrieved the bandages, and gave them to the woman. She stuck two fingers into the goo, and scooped some out. She covered one of the cloth bandages with the goo, motioning for Agorog to come over to her.

He did, and he knelt down in front of her. She bent over a little, gently felt around his face until she determined where his nose was. She then gently placed the gooey cloth onto his nose, tying it together at the back of his head, so it would stay on.

"Leave that on for the rest of today and tonight. Tomorrow morning, take it off and wash your face. Your nose should be as good as new." She instructed, as if she was talking to a child that didn't want to listen.

"Wow." Icabar said, surprised. "I've never heard of healing that works that quickly before."

"That's the benefit of having the power of Panka." She said matter-of-factly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The party, after a short rest at the healer's, was now approaching the town office, where they were told the mayor could be found.

The mayor, hearing the horses, came out of the building, putting his hand over his eyes to block out the bright sun.

"Hello." Leilatha greeted the mayor, climbing off of her horse, when they had reached the building.

"Hello to you too." The mayor responded in a gruff voice. "I'm Mayor Dewel. You four must be the ones that came for the bounty."

"That's correct." Leilatha confirmed, as the others climbed off of their horses as well.

"We'll give you the reward. But you need to leave the town immediately after." The mayor said turning around, presumably to get the bounty reward.

"Wait, we have to go already?" Sage asked, tugging on Leilatha's sleeve.

"Well, you ARE a wizard, aren't you?" Mayor Dewel asked, looking at Icabar "we don't much like wizards here."

"That's not very nice. Icabar's a good wizard." Sage pouted.

"Agreed." Leilatha crossed her arms, with a pointed look on her face.

"Well that's not what Juliana said…" Icabar mumbled at Mayor Dewel, blushing slightly at what sage and Leilatha said.

"Juliana? Who is that supposed to be?" Mayor Dewel asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"She lives just into town." Sage explained. "She told us where everyone was. They were hiding."

"Everyone knows everyone here. I can tell you for a fact that there's no Juliana in this town. " Mayor Dewel said sharply. "Now if you wouldn't mind, I'd like you out of town before the people try to start something."

The mayor walked into the building, not waiting for the four to follow him.

Agorog suddenly remembering something, said "Hey, I uh… need to take care of something quick. I'll be back in a little bit." And walked in the other direction of the building.

Leilatha was about to protest, but decided against it, and herded the two younger adventurers into the town hall.

'Don't do anything stupid.' She silently advised Agorog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now, how much was it? 2000 gold? I guess it was worth all the trouble that monster was causing." The mayor sighed, opening a large safe, revealing stacks of coins. He took out a small portion of what was inside, and put it into a pouch

"That's what the paper said, yes." Leilatha confirmed the amount.

"Well here you are." Mayor Dewel said, handing the bag full of coins to Leilatha. "That's 100 coins. Each worth 20 gold." He elaborated.

"Thank you." Leilatha said with pursed lips, taking the gold.

"How should we contact you if there's any more trouble?" Mayor Dewel asked.

"You shouldn't." Leilatha said flatly, staring at the man.

"But…" Dewel spluttered "what if there's another attack? People could die!"

"Then I think it would be best if you found new protection at your earliest convenience." Leilatha said, feigning a smile. "We wouldn't want to bother the townspeople with our magic, now would we?"

Mayor Dewel stood there, opening and closing his mouth silently. His face was beginning to turn red.

As Leilatha turned away from the Mayor, Agorog stumbled in, glancing over his shoulder. He was rubbing his right knuckles. His hands were noticeably red, whether they had been stained from something, or they were just blotchy.

"Hey." He said, shifting back and forth impatiently "are we leaving soon?"

"Where d'ya go?" Sage fluttered over to Agorog, landing on his shoulders, piggy-back style.

"Nowhere, little forest sprite." Agorog replied, smiling up at Sage.

"We were just on our way out." Leilatha responded to Agorog's question.

She tossed him the sizable bag of coins, which he caught effortlessly, and walked out the front door.

The rest of the party followed her, leaving the somewhat flustered mayor inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They party had mounted their horses, and were walking back through town to check on Juliana.

"Help! Someone get the healer!" Desperate shouts were heard as they were passing the church.

Leilatha pulled the horse over to one of the people running about, asking them, "What's going on? What happened?"

"It's the pastor! He's been attacked!" The man said, before taking off running again.

"This wouldn't have happened to have anything to do with your excused absence, would it?" Leilatha asked Agorog nonchalantly.

Agorog, who had stopped, but was staring straight ahead, with a blank expression, said only "I have no idea what your talking about." And then continued trotting past the church.

The other there's caught up with him, and Icabar made his way to Agorog's side.

"You didn't have to…" Icabar trailed off quietly.

"I'd do it a thousand time more." Agorog gave him a sympathetic smile, patting him on the shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the four approached the edge of town, they stopped in front of Juliana's house. It had been reduced to a pile of splintered wood.

Leilatha got off of her horse, and went to knock on one of the neighbors doors.

A cranky old man answered the knock. "What da'ya want?" He asked, annoyed.

"If you wouldn't mind, could you tell me what happened to that house?" Leilatha asked, pointing to the shambles.

"The big frog-" he started.

"Toad." Icabar interrupted, correcting him. This was rewarded with a glare from the old man. Icabar gave a sheepish smile, "Sorry."

"The big _toad_ ," the man continued, staring at Icabar, "crushed it when it attacked I guess."

"You guess?" Leilatha asked "So you didn't see it happen?"

"No…" the old man started, "but what else could've done it?"

"I'm not sure." Leilatha trailed off.

"Were any bodies found?" Leilatha questioned

"Nope." The man replied, "actually, it was pretty empty. All we found was a stuffed rabbit." At this he walked back into his house. A couple seconds later, he came out holding the stuffed animal.

"There, you asked your questions, now get off my porch!" He complained.

"Thank you for your time." Leilatha smiled, taking the toy. She put it in a saddle pocket, and got back on her horse.

The man shut his door, grumbling.

"Well, we should probably head to Ivestal. We could use a couple week's rest." Leilatha suggested.

"Isn't Ivestal where the kingdom of this region is located?" Icabar asked Leilatha.

"Yes, Icabar. I was thinking we could take advantage of their vast market to buy-" Leilatha started.

" To buy some new toys!" Agorog exclaimed excitedly. "Imagine… swords as far as the eye can see…"

"We're getting toys?" Sage asked excitedly, as Agorog imagined the weapon varieties the market held.

"Why of course. You deserve a prize for your help back there." Leilatha smiled, leaning over and running a hand through Sage's hair.

"Yay!" Sage exclaimed, getting giddy, and racing off on her horse down the road.

The rest quickly followed suit. They were on their way to the center of the Astara kingdom, Ivestal.

**Author's Note:**

> I had fun writing this chapter! I feel like I miht be rushing the plot a little but idk ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> Thoughts?


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